POLICY: UNITED NATIONS PERMANENT FORUM ON INDIGENOUS ISSUES

Updates from the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
By John Reid

The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues is an annual two-week forum for Indigenous peoples to share and broadcast their challenges and victories that otherwise unfold out of sight, in the most remote corners of the planet—from the deepest forests to the most isolated atolls. Since its emergence, Nia Tero has made it possible for our partners to get to New York and take the microphone at this event.

This year, at the 21^st meeting of the Forum from April 25 to May 6, our guests included Beto Marubo, Ângela Kaxuyana, and Fábio Ribeiro, all from the Brazilian Amazon. Beto represents the Union of Indigenous Peoples of the Javari Valley (UNIVAJA); Ângela is Treasurer-Coordinator of the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon; and Fábio is Executive Secretary of the Observatory for the Human Rights of Isolated and Recently Contacted Indigenous Peoples. The three gave speeches at the Forum about the assault on Amazonian peoples driven by the current government, highlighting the life-or-death risks posed to isolated tribes from new incursions encouraged by Brazil’s president and congress.

The whole world has a chance to learn when people like Beto, Ângela, and Fábio stand up and describe these problems—and their solutions—in their own words, unmediated by news channels. They are central actors in the survival drama of the Amazon, which is the most consequential terrestrial ecosystem on Earth for the health of our atmosphere and biological diversity, and also home to at least 350 distinct languages that encode generations of knowledge of how to live with nature.

REGION: PASIFIKA

Tefui
By Rako Pasefika and Anne Quidez

Rako Pasefika proudly presents "Tefui," a song of celebration of our beloved Rotuman identity, a garland of true beauty representing what it means to be Rotuman. 

The tefui is used in various Rotuman kato'aga [ceremonies] and this song speaks of its importance with families and communities gathering to celebrate the occasion – from a mamasa [ceremony when you first arrive in a place], a hot'äk hof [ceremony for the head stone after one year of a person passing], a wedding or a birthday, to island celebrations like Rotuma day or a grand tautoga [traditional dance]. 

Rako Pasefika is an arts collective based in Fiji that began 10 years ago. Rako Pasefika initially began as a Rotuman youth group which came together to create, share, and develop their artistic practices. A few years later, they were set up as a social enterprise. Rako Pasefika is a passionate, spiritual, hardworking, artistic family whose aim is to create sustainable livelihoods for their artists while revitalizing and keeping their culture vibrant and relevant.

Rako Pasefika is a Nia Tero Storytelling collaborator and Regional partner.

LISTEN: SEEDCAST

Valérie Courtois and Sacred Kinship in the Boreal

In the Arctic Circle, Innu peoples’ relationship with caribou “is so sacred that we could become them, and they could become one of us,” says Valérie Courtois. She is a member of the Innu community of Mashteuiatsh, a forester by trade, and the Director of the Indigenous Leadership Initiative (ILI), an organization dedicated to strengthening Indigenous nationhood and leadership.

Valérie has spent her life bridging traditional Indigenous knowledge and Western science. She shares stories about what it’s like to live in the Boreal, home to hundreds of species of lichen and nesting ground to billions of birds. The special relationship between caribou and people in these lands goes back thousands of years and holds lessons about caring for Mother Earth and each other.

Learn more and connect with ILI on their website, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Listen to Seedcast now at the link below, or tune in and subscribe on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Buzzsprout, or your other favorite podcast platforms!

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